Process of making steel wire.



Nopvvsmz,

' J. A. HOETON.

PROCESS 0E MAKING STEEL WIRE.

APPLIGATION FILED 00T. 26. 1903.

. PATENTED OCT. 25, 1904.

UNITED 'STATES Patented October 25, 1904K.I

PATENT OEEicE..

- JAMES A. HORTON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO IROQUOIS MACHINE COMPANY,

TION OF- NEW YORK.

OE NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORA- PRocEss oF MAKING. STEEL WIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofv Letters Patent No. 773,012, dated'iOctober 25, 1904,

Application filed October 26, 1903.

To t/Z whom t may concern:

Beit known thatI, JAMES A. HoirroN, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of` Making Steel Wire, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the production of wire, and especially to the manufacture of steelwire, and more particularly steel wire made from medium and high qualities of steel,

' especially asregards the proportion of carbon and the resistant qualities of the metal.

It will be remembered that in the manufacture of wire by the process of` drawing the effect of the drawing-die upon the wire not only reduces the wire in size, thus extending` a given length of relatively large wire to a rconsiderably longer length of smaller wire,

but this operation also tends immediately and directly, especially when the wire is made of steel having a medium or high proportion of carbon, (as contradistinguished from soft iron and steels low in ,carbon,) to increase the density and hardness of the body of the wire and,

in general, to render the metal in the wire after reduction less ductile or mobile and less tractable under mechanical treatment than it was before being drawn through the die. As

a result of these circumstances'it is found to be diflicult in practice to draw wires of the class referred to from a relatively large size down to much smaller size without resorting to intermediate annealing of the wire, thisl being done by taking the partially-reduced wire and subjecting it to an annealing operation in suitable ovens or furnaces specially arranged for annealing. by heating the entire wire toa proper degree and then cooling the same with sufticientslowness to leave the metal of the wire in a properly-annealed condition.

The principal object of my presentinvention is to overcome these difficulties and objections and furnish a process or method of manufacture whereby the wire may be reduced by drawing the same rapidly through a series of dies in suchmanner and under such conditions as to Serial No. 178,488, (No model.)

make the whole process substantially continuous and at the same time so treatthe wire by drawing, heating, and cooling as to reduce the `hardening-and so-called crystallization of the metal to an amount below what would resuit in permanent injury to the metal, and thereby at the same time preparing the wire by drawing, heating, and cooling at one drawing-station into a suitable condition for a similar treatment immediately at a subsequent drawing-station, and so on through a relativelylarge number of drawings, whereby a relatively large wire of firm and' liiglily-resistant material may be reduced rapidly and efliciently to a relatively small size by an operation that is in a sense continuous and which can, for the reasons here briefly set forth, be produced at a low cost, while preserving to a high degree the original qualityT of the metal in the wire and turning out the wire of a relatively'high strength.

For illustrating my present improvements there is shown in the accompanying' drawings, in Figure l, anillus'trative view, partially in section, somewhat diagrammatic, of a portion of a wire-drawing apparatus adapted for use in connection with my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view for further suitable wire-drawing mechanism or apparatus.

and described in Letters Patent ofthe United States No. @2,981 granted November 3, 1903, to which reference' may be had. A suitable drawing-die 3 of the usual construction is represented supported on the framework, it being shownheld in place between One such apparatus adapted for'useV in practicing my improved process is illustrated abutments t 5', so it may be readily removed and replaced as occasion requires. The unreduced wire 5 is drawn into the die-opening 5 and through said opening by some suitable draft device-such, for instance, as a drum or roller-which is diagrammatieally represented by the circle 6. For convenience in properly directing the wire 5 toward the dieopening 5 when such guidance may be required I have shown a guide wheel or roller 7; but it will be understood that in practice any suitable guide device may be employed if the same shall be required for directing the wire to the drawing-die at the first drawingstation of the series and that afterward the wire may be passed directly from the draft device at one drawing-station forward to the drawing-die at the next succeeding drawingstation, and so on through the series, the wire finally being disposed of by winding the same on the usual wire drum or otherwise, as may be preferred.

In Fig. 2 the wire 5 and the die 3 have for convenience beenillustrated on a larger scale. For the purposes of illustration I have shown in Fig. 2 a series of vertical lines, and crossing these parallel to the Wire I have shown a base-line 10, upon which is drawn a diagram illustrative in a general way of the heating and cooling of the wire. Then the wire 5 is drawn into the opening' 5/ of the 'die 3, and especially if such movement is relatively rapid, the force exerted between the wire and the die operates to beat the wire immediately forward of the die, (at the left hand of the die in Figs.- 1, 2, and 3,) this heating being due, as I apprehend, to the conversion of power into heat by and during the forcible re-forming of the mass of metal which for the moment is being subjected to the drawing operation within the die, this being incident to the transformation of such mass of metal from a wire of one diameter or size to a relatively smaller diameter or size. This relatively sudden heating of the wire is diagrammatically and approximately represented by the upward line 12, and the total amount of heat so produced in some one instance is represented in the present diagram by the height of the line 14 above the line 10. Referring to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the frame 2 is represented as containing fluid to a level indicated by the line 8 to a height substantially above the wire 5. Therefore it will be seen that by means of such a fluid of a properly-regulated temperature the wire on passing through the die 3 will be drawn instantly into a cooling medium, such as cool water or other suitable Huid, which will therefore operate at once to abstract the heat from the wire, and so restore the wire to substantially its original state as to temperature. It is evident this operation will be performed much more quickly with relatively fine wire, and I have obtained eX- ceptionally good results in reducing wire from No. 16 down to Nos. 2() and 30, and liner. This cooling of the wire is represented in Fig. 2 by the diagrammatic curved line 16, which is shown descending from the line 14; downward to the line 10 at the point 1T, this latter point representing the complete cooling of the wire to itsoriginal temperature before it entered the die at that particular drawingstation. A vertical line 13 is shown located at the forward side of the drawing-die, and it is believed that the maximum temperature in the wire is created at about that point in the travel of the wire forwardly through the die. Another vertical line, 15, at a considerable distance forward of the die indicates a point at which the line 16 crosses a horizontal line 1S, that represents in a general way by its height. above the line 10 the amount of heat which may remain in the wire after the heating and subsequent rapid cooling has progressed so far as to restore the wire approximately to its original physical condition, and thus bring it into a proper state for being subjected in a similar manner to the next succeeding wiredrawing operation. Another horizontal line 20 is intended to represent by its height above the line IO an amount of ,heat which will bring the wire to that state of ductility or n'iobility which may be necessary for overcon'iing the hardening and crystallizing effect otherwise naturally produced by the intense and normall y destructive mechanical action of the die upon the metal of the wire. By carrying out the drawing operation in such manner, having regard to the amount of reduction in the wire at one drawing, the physical character and resistant quality of the wire due to its proportion of carbon or otherwise, and speed with which the wire is forcibly drawn through the die, the heating of the wire may be carried to a point where the condition of the wire corresponds to a point in the diagram above the line 20, and thereby the injurious effects otherwise normally consequent to the wire-drawing operation may be so largely overcome as to permit the wire to be immediately conducted to a succeeding.;` drawing-station, there to be further reduced by a succeeding drawing operation, and so on through an extended series of drawing operations following one immediately after the other, and thus constituting, in effect, a continuous operation. For illustrating this feature of my present improvement I have shown in Fig. 3 a series of drauf'ingstations, (designated by l, 2, 3, l1, 5, (i, 7, and 8.) In practice it sometimes happens that a given quality of wire may be subjected to two successive drawings--as, for instance, at stations l and 2`without accumulating such an amount of change in the character or condition of the metal as to require the wire to be annealed. I may in such a case carry out the whole series of wire-drawing operations at such a speed as to develop the heating of the wire to a point above the diagrammatic line lOO ' occur at a somewhat later point in the series of drawing-stations---as, for instance, as station 4 or station 5 in Fig. 3. In this connection the evident fact should be noted that by reason of the continuity of the wire-drawing process involving a plurality of drawing-stations the speed of the wire at each succeeding station is higher than such speed at a preceding station by an amount corresponding to the extension of the wire due to the amount of reduction at such preceding station, so that at the later or forward station of the series the `speed will be many times higher than at the stations where the reduction is begun.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the illustrations referred to, it will now be evident how the Wire by the heating and cooling of the same may be so annealed, to use this term in a general sense, that when it-has been so far reduced vthat it would ordinarily require a special annealing operation such special operation may be omitted and the wire carried forward directly to a succeeding drawing-station, and thus the general process of wire reduction may go on through a relatively large number of successive stations,V thereby greatly accelerating the process of manufacture and avoiding the de-l lay and cost of the usual intervening annealing processes, by which means I also avoid thezdelay and labor due to the handling of the kwire, as well as enabling the manufacturer to convert the original relatively large wire at once into wire of relatively small sizes of high or increased tensile strength, and thus enable -him to so conduct the business of inanufacturing small sizes of wire as to have in process vof manufacture only a small quantity of wire atany one time. rIhese are advantages of such practical importance that the economy andutility of the' same will be obvious. The wire by being drawn through the die with a force and speed (the force required being measured largely by the amount of reduction effected by the die) sufficient to raise the heat above the condition indicatedl by the line 20, Fig. 2, and the wire being then drawn directly into the cooling medium, as indicated in Fig. l, and vsuch cooling medium being of proper temperature, having regard to the'size and speed of the wire, the cooling of the wire is thereby readily effected so quickly' (asI apprehend in view of my investigation up to the present time of the results of my present improvements) that the metal of the wire is sufliciently annealed, this being done in a manner analogous to what is commonly known soffa'r as to `overcome the tendency to ,crystallization, 'so called,this operation involvingthe heating of the metal to a relatively low temperature as compared with the ordinary annealnig process more usually employed.

By means of my present improvements it is made practicable to cariythe continuous process of wire reduction through a relatively large number of consecutive drawing operations by preventing such accumulative crystallizing action as would injuriously alfect the metal by rendering the same during the later drawing operationsweak or brittle to the eX- tent of causing frequent breakage or otherwise interrupting the continuity of the manufacture. It will be understood that in some .cases the ratio of reduction by the die at the several drawing-stations, respectively, may be modified so that a greater proportionate reduction will be effected at some stations than will take` place at other stations, so that in practice some crystallizing action may be permitted at some of the drawing-stations and the annealing of the wire by heating and cooling in accordance with the principles' herein set forth' may be eected in a relatively high degree at few only of the succeeding stations-as, for instance, at the third andv fifth stations of a more extended series of stations. In this connection it should be noted that due regard should be had in' any given instance to the amount of the crystallization due to a given amount of reduction by die action upon such size and quality of wire as may be employed, and the successive steps of the continuous process should be so adju'sted in the manner hereinbefore indicated as to eifect the restoration or annealing of the wire at one of the drawingstations through which the wire will pass priorto the time such crystallizing action would become destructive to the continuity of the process. The proportions and ratios herein referred to may be ascertained and duly determined by observing and testing the several features herein set forth as being involved in the complete operation or process by adjusting and regulating the several steps of the operations comprised in the continuous process. in accordance with the data so ascertained oi' determined. In practice I deem it preferable, in view of my experience in connection with these improvements up to the present time, to make several reductions each of a moderate or average amount only as compared with the maximum reductions which are sometimes elfected by single and non-consecutivey wire-drawing operations; but in some cases it maybe desirable to effect a relativelylarger reduction, as I have indicated, at oneor more IOO IIO

points during the series of consecutive wiredrawings, thereby to increase the heat action to a sufiiciently high point, and thus better prepare the metal for further reduction by successive die actions of relatively less amount.

By the term crystallization or "crystalline action as I have used the same in this application I refer to that well-known tendency usually resulting from the drawing of steel wire to effect the hardening or stiul'ening of the metal, which is naturally cumulative and which if carried beyond a moderate amount tends to injure the character of the wire, so that one or more intermediate annealing operations are usually required in the manufacture of the smaller sizes ofsteel wire in accordance with the methods of manufactureheretofore employed. By carrying the die action up to a speed which, in connection with the amount of reduction made by the die, will raise the heat in the wire up to the point of substantially reducing such injurious eflect or crystallizing action the metal of the wire is naturally restored to a considerable extent and is thereby better prepared for being subjected to subsequent die action without thereby carrying the accumulation of the crystallizing` effect to a higher point than before existed. By this means it will new be evident the series of consecutive die actions employed duringthe continuous process may be considerably extended, and at the saine time the speed with which the entire process is carried out may be increased, with the benelicial result of reducing the time and labor involved, effecting a corresponding reduction in cost, and delivering' the wire reduced to a relatively small size from the original wire taken at a relatively large size, the wire so reduced and delivered retaining the high quality and a maximum of strength.

Vhen the wire is reduced in accordance with the method'herein described and is carried through a considerable number of drawing-stations, the cumulative eifect of the die action would naturally, except for the special treatment to which it is subjected, soon attain such proportions as to render the further drawing of the wire impractical, particularly when the wire was originally of high quality or high in carbon; but by subjecting thewire to the treatment set forth whereby it is heat ed -to a relatively high temperature, but less than would be required to eliminate the die temper produced in the wire by the wire-drawing action of the die, there results a limited annealing of the wire immediately after its reduction, such annealing being less in amount than would be required to eliminate those characteristics of the wire which are directly produced by the process of reduction, and as a further result of the present process the beneficial results produced by the reduction followed by a partial annealing or limited annealing at one drawing-station are carried forward and become cumulative duringl the progress of the continous process, with the final result that the wire is delivered at the end of the process free of any deterioration which would be due to a full or complete annealing by the old process of healing to a high temperature, and retaining in its hnished form the beneficial results gradually accruing during the passage of the wire from station to station, thereby reducing the wire to the required limit of size, while giving it a substantial increase in tensile strength. In this connection it will be remembered that i11 the ordinary process of wire 111anufacture when the wire having been partially reduced is then annealed in the usual manner the metal ol the wire is then in such a state that the wire is of low strength and unable to endure the stress necessary for making more than a slight reduction in the irst drawingdie, Therefore in practice it is by that system of manufacture considered important to slightly reduce the wire at the iirst drawing after the annealing' in order to give the wire suiiicient strength and stability for 1'1ermittingl it to be drawn through a second drawing-die for making a proportionately larger reduction. By means of my present imliirovements these serious objections are avoided, since the limited annealing is made in such manner as to retain suflicient strength in the wire after one drawing operation for drawing the wire through the die at the next operation, and so on tl 1 rough a relatively long series of consecutive reductions by a continuous process. B v the old process an intermediate annealing between two series of single or non-consecutive wiredrawing operations not only involves the cost of such annealing, but also involves the loss in amount of reduction at the first wire-drawing operation, usually termed drawing out." By my improved process this loss of reduction is avoided, since the wire is passed from station to station consecutively and the worh of reduction is carried on during such continuous process in a manner not to require the i11- termediate and separate annealing operation.

ln carrying out my improvements l iind that with steel of a medium earbonsay forty to sixty points-a speed increase of from li ty per cent. to one hundred per cent. over the speed ordinarily used in drawing wire from the same materials, with the usual redmftions through dies in the open air in the old practice, will usually be sui'iicient to develop the necessary amount of wire-heating die action and that the lower speeds mentioned should be accompanied by such an amount of i11- crease in reduction as to bring the amount of the treatment applied to the wire (considering the speed, reduction, and stability of the steel in any given case) up to approximately twice as much as would be considered desirable and proper under the old practice. One advantage of my invention is due, as l appre- IOO llO

hend, to the circumstance that the speed of 'stable condition, with the result that the amount of the treatment applied to the wire is measured so to speak, from a low baseline, and thus a reduction of' the so-called crystallization effected without injuriously affecting the condition of the wire in other respects at that stage of theoperation.

Having thus described my invention, I claiml. That improvement in the artof producing wire by subjecting the same to a plurality of wire-drawing operations in a continuous process, consistingin subjecting the wire to heat at a drawing-station by die action raised to aL speed suicient to heat the wire up to a point overcoming crystalline action, drawing the wire so heated directly into a cooling medium` and thereby reducing the temperature to bring the wire toa condition of stability suitable for subjection to a subsequent drawing operation.

2. As an im provement in wire manufacture, the process lof reducing the wire by successive operations in a continuous process which consists in first effecting a partial reduction of the wire, neXt further reducing the wire by drawing at a speed vraising the temperature to the annealing-point, and then at once cooling the wire to restore it to proper condition for a subsequent reduction, and then reducing the wire by a subsequent drawing operation. i

3. As an improvement in the manufacture of steel wire, the process of reducing the wire by successive operations in a continuous process which consists in lfirst eiecting a partial reduction of the wire by a drawing-die and afterward'further reducing the wire by drawing, and also effecting the annealing of the wire preparatory to the subsequent drawing operation by subjecting the wire to die action and heating to a point substantially reducing the tendency to crystallization, and then rapidly cooling the wire prior to .such subsequent re'duction.

4. rlhat improvement in the art of making steel wire, which consists in subjecting the wire to combined die action for reducing the size of the wire and to heating produced by carrying the die action to a speed sufIicient to raise the heating to the point of substantial reduction of the tendency to crystallization, and drawing the reduced wire so heated into a cooling fluid of a temperature suiiiciently low to complete the annealing of the wire, substantially as set forth.

5. The improved process herein described for reducing steel wire, which consists in carrying the die action for reducing the wire to the point of heating the wire to a point beyond the line of crystallization and drawing the wire so heated directly into the cooling fluid.

6. The improved process herein described` of reducing steel wire by a continuous process comprising three or more consecutive draw'- ing operations, which consistsv in subjecting the wire to reduction by die action, next subjecting the wire to reduction and to heating lby die action carried to a speed for raising the heat beyond the point ofcrystallizing action and drawing the wire' so heated into a cooling fluid for quickly cooling the wire, and later subjecting the wire so modified by heating and immediate cooling to a subsequent reduction by die action.

7. The improved process herein described of reducing steel wire by a continuous process comprising five or more consecutive drawing operations, which consists in subjecting the wire at a first operation to reduction by die action; next subjecting the wire to reduction and to heating by die action carried to a speed for raising the heat beyond the point of crystallizing action and drawing the wire so heaty ed through a cooling fluid for quickly cooling the wire; neXt subjecting the wire to further reduction'by dieaction; and, later, subjecting the wire to reduction and to heating a second time by die action carried to a speed for raising the heat-beyond the point of crystallizing action and drawing the wire so heated into a cooling iiuid for quickly cooling the wire; and subjecting the wire so modified by heat and immediate cooling to a subsequent further reduction by die action.

8. The improved process herein described of reducingsteel wire by a continuous process comprising a plurality of drawing operations which consists in subjecting the wire to reduction by die action to the point of inducing crystalline action, next subjecting thewire to reduction and to heating bydie action carried n to a speed for raising the heat to the point of reducing crystalline action and drawing the wire so heated into a cooling iiuid for quickly cooling the wire, then subjecting the wire so modified by heating and immediate cooling to one or more subsequent reductions by die action carried to the point of inducing incipient crystalline action, and subsequently again subjecting the wire to reduction and to heating by die action similarly carried as before to the point of raising the heat beyond 'the point of crystallizing action, and then quickly cooling the wire, whereby the wire during the series of consecutive drawing operations is subjected to annealing treatment at successive points in the continuous process, substantially as specified.

' 9. That improvement in the art of reducing wire by subjecting the same to a plurality of wire-drawing operations in a continuous process, which consists in subjecting the wire to IOO IIO

successive reductions by die action carried to the speed of raising the heat beyond the point of crystallizing action and drawing the wire so heated through a cooling Huid for quickly cooling the Wire` such heat being' carried to a point substantially less than required to eliminate the die temper of the wire, thereby to produce a limited annealing of the wire immediately following its reduction at one drawing-station preparatory to subjecting the wire to a similar and further treatment at a sucseeding station whereby the die temper produced by the die action at one station is carried forward through succeeding stations` and the wire linally delivered having increased tensile strength prod uccd cumulatively d u ring' the passage of the wire from station to station by the successive reductions accom panicd by heating and limited annealing. substantial] y as described.

In testimony whereofI l have ai'lixed mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES A. HOR'ION. lalitiiesses:

FRED. J. DOLE, R. M. PinnsoN. 

